Dissecting Nury Martinez’ Remorseless Letter Of Resignation From The Los Angeles City Council

Nury Martinez finally resigned from the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday following days of intense scrutiny over a series of racist comments recently revealed by way of a secret audio recording made public.

Her full resignation came days after she gave up her presidency in likely hopes that the entire scandal would blow over and she’d be able to retain most of her nearly $300,000 salary funded by her tax-paying constituents. As this week started, Martinez also took a leave of absence.

But, despite all of the above, it still seemed like Martinez would try to weather the storm brought on by her own racism since she was refusing to step down from the council. It was only after the L.A. Times reported Tuesday that Martinez also made racist statements against Jews when she took deliberate steps to fully resign from the council. Prior to that, it appeared that she didn’t feel the revelation she called a Black child a “monkey” should compel her to completely quit.

 

This brings us to her letter of resignation from the city council, which reads more like a remorseless and narcissistic love letter to herself than a statement that should have been dripping with contrite appeals for forgiveness. Instead, on Wednesday, Martinez released a statement announcing her resignation from the city council that could have been mistaken for a big middle finger to anyone who thinks her undeniable racism is a reason for her to relinquish her position of power.

Here are seven takeaways from Martinez’s letter of resignation as the city of Los Angeles looks to heal following days of outrage and protests from Angelenos of all races and creeds.

 

She shamelessly sings her own praises during a moment of extreme shame

From the very start of the statement announcing her resignation, Martinez makes it all about herself and much less about those who she’s hurt in her position of leadership representing all of Los Angeles. Not only does she make sure to point out that her own heart is “broken,” but she also described herself in triumphant terms as an underdog politician.

“No one expected me to win,” she wrote of her 2013 election in which she “overcame that challenge” to enjoy “the honor of serving in the role of a lifetime.”

To be sure, while Martinez offered apologies when she resigned from the council presidency on Monday, there is no such sentiment to be found in the first two paragraphs of her statement announcing her resignation from the council.

She painted herself in a sympathetic light

Much of Martinez’s letter resigning from the council could have been mistaken for her resume as she ran down a laundry list of her own accolades that drew attention to what she said was her effort to “represent and fight for people who don’t have a voice” and how they have been her “guiding principle.”

Of course, in theory the Black son of fellow Councilman Mike Bonin whom she called a “little monkey” who deserves a “beatdown” for his behavior should be one of those “people who don’t have a voice.” But there was no mention of either of them in Martinez’s letter.

She never once apologized to constituents or council colleagues

Speaking of her constituents and the other Los Angeles City Council members, neither of them got an explicit apology in Martinez’s letter. Instead, Martinez listed the group’s accomplishments since she became “the first Latina Council President” who “strived to serve with compassion and to give a larger platform to the communities I left had been left behind.”

This is from someone who was recorded during a conversation with two colleagues saying “f*ck” Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón because “he’s with the Blacks.”

Martinez went on to call her constituents “my friends,” a term that both Black and Jewish Angelenos were likely viewing through rolled eyes.

“My only goal has been to champion a families first agenda that we can all be proud of,” Martinez wrote without an apparent hint of irony.

The only apology she gave was to her staff

“I’m so sorry that we’re ending it this way,” Martinez wrote in the lone instance of her statement including any semblance of penitence.

No mention of the Los Angeles Black or Jewish communities who now have a legitimate cause to review all the policies Martinez has ever voted for or presided over while leading the council.

At face value, considering her initial letter resigning her presidency and now her new letter fully resigning from the city council, it would appear that the only thing Martinez seems to be sorry for is being caught.

She said Monday that “reconciliation” would be her “priority,” but Wednesday’s letter seemingly contradicts that sentiment in multiple ways – especially with her only apology being reserved for her staff.

It is in that context that Martinez on Wednesday excluded any explicit reference to Black people – the subject of her racism that caused the initial firestorm. And in her paltry statement on Monday, Martinez only referenced “communities of color” and overtures she said she made to her “Black colleagues and Black leaders to express my regret in order for us to heal.”

SEE ALSO:

LA City Council President Nury Martinez Resigns In Shame After Racist Remarks Revealed

Los Angeles City Council President Called Her Colleague’s Black Son A Monkey In Racist Tirade